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Free Will

Fr will raises the question whether, and in what sense, ration agents exercise controv their actions, decisions, choices. Addr this question requires underst the relationship between freedom and cause, and determining whe the la of nature are causally deterministic. The various philosophical postakdif on whe all events are determined or not — determinism versus indeterminism — and also on whether fre can coex with de or not — compatibilism ve incompatibilism. So, for instance, 'hard determinists' are incompatibilists who argue th the universe is deterministic, and that this makes free will impossible. Libertarians are also incompatibilists. Th believe that free will exis and strict ca determinism is false. Their problem is to reconcile free will with ch or indeterminism, which thre to ma actions random. The principle of free will has religious, ethical, and scientific implications. For example, in the religious realm, free will imp that an omnipotent divinity does not assert its power over individual wi and choices. In ethics, it implith individuals can be held morally accountab for their actions. The question of free wi has been a central is since the beginning of philosophical thought.